Railway crossing signal



April 1935. G. w. BOHANNON RAILWAY CROSSING SIGNAL Filed July 9, 1952 WW J 15 which will show the number of tracks occupied.

Patented Apr. 2, 1935 RAmWAYcRossmGTsrGNAL j George W. Bohannon,-Procton Minnl' v 7 pplicati n July9, 1932',-Ser ial mates lClaim.(o1;-246 125) I The invention relates to signalling means for locationat the intersection ofa vehicular highway with railroad tracksv andhassfor an object toprovide an indicator for a multi-track system Thedevice of the present invention is associated with the usual signalwhich, by means of an oscillating or flashing light and alarm visibly?and'audiblyindicates to the vehicular traific the approach of a train.It often happens that several trains approach the intersectionsimultaneously and in this event, although the signal is held in warningposition there is a tendency for the traflic to start across immediatelyas the first train clears. With indicating means such as contemplated bythe present invention accurate information will be given as to thenumber of tracks occupied, as, for example, after one train of severalapproaching trains passes the intersection the signal will continue towarn trafiic of their danger since the track or tracks ,still occupiedwill be indicated.

With these and various other objects in view, the invention may consistof certain novel features of construction and operation, as will be morefully described and particularly pointed out in the specification,drawing and claim appended hereto. V

In the drawing which illustrates an embodiment of the device and whereinlike reference characters are used to designate like parts Figure 1 isan elevational view of a railway crossing signal equipped with thedevice of the present invention; 7 V

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 22 of Figure 1 showingthe mechanism for actuating the track indicator, and

Figure 3 is an enlarged plan view of the mechanism shown in Figure 2. V

A conventional form of railway crossing signal comprises an upright orstandard In suitablysupported upon a concrete foundation II and havingits upper end provided with diagonal arms l2 and I3 supporting thehousing formed by side walls l4 and I5. Each arm has depending'therefroma warning light I6 which light may be operated to flash alternately orsimultaneously upon the approach of a train by means of the conventionaltrack circuit. Suitably supported for rotation intermediate the arms I 2and I3 is a visible indicator I! which is rotated to its position, asshown in Figure 1, when a train enters the block on either side of theintersection to thus warn the approaching traflic' of their danger. Whenthe intersection is clear the lights l6 cease -with pinion 25 engaged bythe rack 26.

More" particularly, the present "invention contemplates equipment forassociation with railway crossing signals such {as above described whichwill i convey" accurate "information to the nashmg and the indicator 1 1is rotated a to present its edge to the trailic,"in which position thewarning conveyed thereby is not visible;

approaching traific as to the numberof tracks in a" multi-tracks'yst'emthat in'ay be occupied.

As shown in Figure 2, the housing formed by side walls M and I5 andenclosed by the hood IB has has been selected for illustrative purposesfor the reason that a cylinder is considered preferable'to a slidingdisc or plate but it is to. be

understood that the latter are deemed as .coming within the scope of theinvention. The shaft 22 of the cylinder has mounted at one end thepinion 23 meshing with gear 24, in turn equipped To one end of the rackis pivotally secured the lever 21' having comiected to its ends at 28and 29, re-' spectively, the levers 30 and 3|. Each track iselectrically connected through the'block signal system with a solenoidand for the four-track system contemplated in the drawing, solenoids,32, 33, 34 and 35' are provided. Lever 3D is pivotally connected at itsends to plunger 36 of solenoid 32 and plunger 31 of solenoid 33, whilein a similar manner lever 3! has operative association with plungers 38and 39 of the remaining solenoids. Each plunger. is resiliently urgedoutwardly of its solenoid in a direction towardthe left, Figure 3, bycompression springs 40, the out through the connecting linkage of lever30 and lever 21 the rack bar 26. Since lever 2'l has connection withlever 30 at the mid-point of the latter the pivot point28 will-move onlyhalf the distance of plunger 36. The mid-point connection of the rackbar with lever 2! functions in a. manner as'explained so that the bar isconstructed to move a distance that is only onefourth of the movement ofthe plunger. The result of the operation described is to cause rotationof the cylinder 20 to locate the numeral I opposite the aperture 42indicating that one track of the four-track system is occupied. In theevent that a second train should simultaneously approach theintersection on another track one of the remaining solenoids will beenergized to cause actuation through connecting linkage of lever 21.Irrespective of which solenoid is energized the rack bar will be causedto move a distance one-fourth of that of the movement of the actuatedplunger, but since the cylinder already renders visible the numeral I tothe approaching traflic any further rotation will bring into view thenumeral 2 so that the mechanism automatically indicates the number oftracks 00- cupied. "When the train leaves the block' electrically'connected'w'ith the crossingsignal the various solenoids arede-energized and the compression springs 40 cause the plungers to returnto their initial position, rotating the cylinder in the reversedirection and rendering visible oncev again the zero showing that noneof the tracks are occupied.

Itrwill be understood that I do not wish to be limited by the exactembodiment of the device shown, which is merely by way of illustrationand not limitation, as various and other forms of the device will ofcourse be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing fromthe spirit of the invention or the scope of the claim such as the use ofa rotating disc or sliding 'plate in place of the cylinder 20 fordisplay of ber of tracks in the system, operating means for said movablemember having actuation when a train approaches the crossing on any oneof the tracks, said member having step by step movement as the tracks ofthe system become occupied to cause progression of the visible indicia,and said member having step by step movement in the reverse direction asthe trains leave the crossing to cause retrogression of the visibleindicia.

GEORGE BOHANNON.

